A/N I said I was going to try to stop procrastinating so much. I don't own the rights to Harry Potter, though I wish I did.
Chapter three: An Unlikely Alliance
1st September 1991, 10:38 AM, King's Cross Station, London, England, United Kingdom
"Well, looks like this is goodbye, Prongslet. Until Christmas at least." The Marauder neglected to mention that he would meet Harry in the Shrieking Shack on the next full moon. They both knew that and didn't want anyone to overhear anything that could suggest he was a werewolf. They both knew that they were taking a big enough risk with saying goodbye at King's Cross, what if someone saw them together? Even with taking the precaution of staying on the Muggle side, it was risky. Harry gave his adoptive father one last hug, before disappearing through the barrier to meet up with the twins.
"Harry!" He has barely turned towards the voice, before he was engulfed in a hug by his very exuberant friend.
"Hi, Parvati." He looked over her head at her twin. "Hey, Padma. Can you get your sister to stop hugging me, so we can get on the train?" At hearing what Harry had said, Parvati stopped hugging him and punched him in the arm.
"Jerk." Harry greeted Ramrao and Smita happily before the children had to get on the express. They opened the door to the first compartment they could find and saw there was already someone inside. "Hey, can we join you in your compartment?" The nervous looking wizard in the compartment looked at them and stuttered out a positive reply. Harry moved their trunks to the overhead compartment, before the trio sat down. "My name's Parvati, this is my sister Padma and this is our friend, Harry. What's your name? Are you looking forward to Hogwarts?"
The wizard was clearly not used to people like Parvati. "M-my name's N-Neville. I-I guess I'm looking f-forward to Hogwarts, but I'm going to be t-terrible at everything." Harry asked Neville why that was. "B-because I'm a b-borderline squib. I b-barely even had any accidental magic! I can only r-remember one time I did any and that w-was the time Uncle Algie dropped me out of a w-window." The other three looked at each other in concern, but before they could say anything, the train started to move.
"So, Neville. You don't think dropping you out of a window was a bit excessive?" Neville asked what Harry meant. "Well, if you hadn't had magic you could've been seriously hurt."
"Yeah, I suppose so, but G-Gran was so happy that I had magic. She bought me some flitterbloom seeds. Flitterbloom is a really nice plant that looks a bit like Devil's Snare, but it's completely harmless. They're quite old now, so they'll probably die soon, but I asked Mipsol to look after them while I'm at Hogwarts. Hopefully they'll still be alive when I go back at Christmas."
"Neville? Your family was ok with you being dropped out of a window?" Neville turned to answer Padma.
"W-well, my G-Gran was furious about it. She told Uncle Algie to leave the house. That was the only t-time I ever heard her cuss. It was after he l-left that she realised what it meant and got h-happy I was a wizard."
Before anything else could be said, the door opened. "I heard Harry Potter was in this compartment." Harry turned and looked at the blond who'd just entered. "So, it's true." He looked around the compartment, seemingly judging the company Harry kept. "I was going to offer my help to prevent you from falling in with the wrong sort of wizarding families, but I see that isn't needed." He began to say something else, but was interrupted by one of his bookends.
"What d'you mean 'that isn't needed'? Of course, it's needed. He's going around with curry munchers and a squib." The blond glared at the interrupting boy.
"The Patil's are an old and respected Pureblood family and surely you can tell that Longbottom isn't a squib? He is on the way to Hogwarts after all. I know you're an idiot, Goyle, but you can't be stupid enough to think a squib could come to Hogwarts." The third boy spoke up then, with a surprisingly soft voice.
"But Draco, the Patil's are foreigners! They're not welcome here. And you've heard what Algernon Longbottom's said about his great nephew's magical abilities. I don't want to be around a squib and foreigners and I'm sure Greg agrees." The blond, apparently called Draco, responded in a way the rest of the carriage didn't expect.
"The Malfoy's are foreigners, Crabbe. Or have you forgotten we're French? Where they're from doesn't matter, what matters is: do they have pure blood? The answer is: probably purer than yours."
"You take that back, frog!" Apparently the reminder of Draco's ancestry was enough to turn Crabbe's xenophobia onto him.
"Oh, come on, Crabbe. We both know your uncle was more than happy to indulge in muggle's during the war. At least Goyle's family limited their lust to Mudbloods and Blood Traitors." Crabbe looked like he was about to throw a punch at Draco, when Goyle put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let's go, Vince. I certainly don't want to stay in here." He glanced at Padma and Parvati. "Smells too spicy." Crabbe glared at Draco, before he and Goyle left.
Draco sighed. "Sorry about that. Now, where was I? Ah, yes." He held his hand out to Harry. "My name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Harry shook Draco's hand.
"Nice to meet you, Draco. I'm a bit curious as to why you want to be my friend, though. From everything I've heard of your family, you should hate me for ending Voldemort's reign of terror." Everyone that wasn't Harry flinched at the name of the Darkest wizard since Grindelwald.
Draco sat down next to Neville, who shifted slightly in his seat. "Well, there is the theory some families believe about the Dark Lord failing to kill you because you're an even more powerful Dark Wizard who will achieve the Dark Lord's aims with less losses to our ranks. That's why father wants me to befriend you. Well, that and you're a very politically powerful individual who it would be a good idea to become close to. Me personally. I don't think you're a Dark Wizard. Dark Wizards and Longbottom's have never gotten along historically. Neither have the Potter's really, except for Seth Potter, but the rest of the Potter's have always fought against any Dark Wizards of the time. My reason for attempting to befriend you is that you'd likely be a good person to be friends with. And because Father wants me to."
Harry considered it. He and Remus had known that some Dark families would try to align themselves with Harry. Though they'd thought it would be to deflect suspicion that they were Death Eaters. He knew that Draco didn't share his beliefs on the value of blood purity, but they could just not talk about it. Plus there was the possibility that Draco could develop opinions that were more palatable to Harry. "Ok, Draco. But you can't say Mudblood around me. I absolutely detest that word."
Draco smirked. "Of course. I'll even do you one better and not talk about blood purity at all, without first being asked about it. Exploding snap?" Harry and the twins quickly agreed to a game of the popular card game. Neville agreed as well, though less eagerly than the others. After a few rounds, Parvati decided to ask a question that had been on her mind since Crabbe and Goyle left.
"Draco? How come you defended me and Padma? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, it's just, I'd have thought you'd have agreed with Crabbe and Goyle?" Draco scowled slightly.
"The Malfoy's have always held that we are superior to others. But when we first made the journey to Britain, we were faced with hostility and derision. Just because we were French. There are still some families that look down on us for that, like the Black's. Although the Black's do agree with us on many things and do marry in sometimes, like Mother. It was people like my great Aunt who weren't happy about Mother's marriage. My great Aunt looks down on the Malfoy's for being 'foreign blood'. Even though the Malfoy's have been in Britain since 1066. When I brought up my ancestry I didn't think they'd react like that. After all, the Goyle's didn't arrive in Britain until the 1200's and the Crabbe's arrived after the Black Death. Even the French Malfoy's have more right to claim to be British than they do. They only moved back to France in 1786. But that's why I defended you. Because the Malfoy's have never been xenophobic. As long as your blood's pure, the Malfoy's support you." Draco then seemed to realise he'd been talking for quite a while. "Sorry, I just hate people acting superior to me." The others let him know it was ok and that they understood.
They soon lost themselves in another game of exploding snap, until Neville noticed something. "Where's Trevor?" They all looked at Neville and asked who Trevor was. "My pet toad. My Uncle Algie bought him for me when I got my Hogwart's letter. Can any of you see him?" The other four in the compartment looked around before confirming that the toad wasn't in sight. "Can you help me look for him? My gran will be angry at me if I lose him on my first day at Hogwarts." They all nodded, Draco a bit reluctantly.
They got up and started asking the people in the nearby compartments. No one had seen anything in the first four compartments they checked. In the fifth one, they realised that they knew the people within. Unfortunately, they'd already asked them if they'd seen a toad. "No, but I assure you, we'll let you know if we do."
Goyle snickered at the group of five. "Yeah, we'll use it for bludger practice. You'll hear the splat!"
"I am glad you came in here, though." The one member of the compartment that they didn't know stood up. "I wanted to personally register my disappointment and disgust at Draco soiling the proud Malfoy name."
Parvati looked the newcomer up and down before asking him the question on all of their minds. "And you are?"
The boy gave Parvati a look of disgust. "Mauricius Macnair. Heir to the Noble House of Macnair. And you should know better than to talk to your superiors like that." Draco scoffed.
"Please, like killing animals for the Ministry is a 'Noble' calling. The Patil's have a very successful importing business in Britain, if anything, Macnair, they're your superiors." Macnair scowled.
"Shut it, Malfoy. You're a disgrace to both your name and you status. Why don't you go back to the toad search? That is, if no one's stepped on it yet." Macnair smirked evilly at the thought of a toad being crushed by a careless or malicious student. Neville glared at Macnair, before they left to search the rest of the train. Three compartments later, they came across some older boys wearing yellow trimmed robes.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a toad anywhere?" Parvati was the one to speak, as always.
One of the boys, who was wearing a badge that said Headboy, smiled reassuringly at them. "We haven't, why? Is it your pet?"
Parvati shook her head. "Not mine, Neville's." She gestured to the boy in question.
The boy turned to Neville. "Hi, can you tell me the name of your toad?" After Neville told him, the boy pulled it his wand. "Watch this. Accio Trevor the toad." Nothing seemed to happen for a few seconds, and then they heard a girl scream a bit further down the train. A few seconds after that, a toad flew into the boy's hand. "I assume this is Trevor?" Neville nodded and thanked him profusely. "My name is Gabriel Truman. I hope I'll see some of you in Hufflepuff. Enjoy the rest of your journey."
With Trevor found, they headed back to their compartment. They spent the rest of the journey playing exploding snap and chatting. Eventually, they arrived at Hogsmeade Station. They followed Hagrid to the boats and Draco volunteered to take a different boat with some people he suspected would be in Slytherin with him. Halfway across the lake, Neville shrieked in terror. "Nev! What's wrong?"
A white faced Neville turned to Harry. "I-I-I saw s-something in the w-water! It was a t-tentacle or s-something. D-do you think it r-realises we're h-h-here? What if it's h-h-hungry? W-will it attack us? Will it k-kill us? W-will it eat us? I-I don't want t-to die!" Harry smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Nev. It's just the Giant Squid." Neville's eyes bulged. He didn't seem to think that a giant squid was something to describe with the word "just". Harry decided to explain further. "It doesn't eat people. It eats fish. It only attacks people who want to harm Hogwarts and the inhabitants of Hogwarts. We'll be fine." Neville didn't look too convinced, but relaxed a little bit.
A short while later, Hagrid had left them with Professor McGonagall. Draco came back over and joined the others, much to the apparent dislike of a ginger boy who scowled at Draco. Luckily, none of the group noticed.
Abbott, Hannah."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Bones, Susan."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Boot, Terrence."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Brocklehurst, Amanda."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Brown, Lavender."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Bulstrode, Millicent."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Corner, Michael."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Cornfoot, Stephen."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Crabbe, Vincent." The bulky pureblood strode arrogantly to the stool and waited for the Hat to be placed on his head. Seconds after it touched his hair, he was placed into the house of snakes.
"Davis, Tracy."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Entwhistle, Kevin."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Finnigan, Seamus."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Goldstein, Anthony."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Goyle, Gregory." The second of the xenophobic purebloods walked proudly to the Hat and quickly joined the first in Slytherin.
"Granger, Hermione."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Greengrass, Daphne."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Hopkins, Wayne."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Jones, Megan."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Li, Sue."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Longbottom, Neville." Neville flinched at his name and made his way nervously to the stool. The Hat was on his head for several minutes before finally Sorting him into Gryffindor. He took several steps towards the Gryffindor table before realising the Hat was still on his head and giving the Hat back.
"MacDougal, Morag."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Macmillan, Ernest."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Macnair, Mauricius." Macnair sneered his way to the stool and got Sorted into Slytherin as soon as the Hat touched his head.
"Malfoy, Draco." This was greeted with several boos as he swaggered up to the Sorting Hat. Draco did a good job of hiding his annoyance at being hated. The Hat put him in Slytherin almost before it touched his head.
"Malone, Roger."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Moon, Lily."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Nott, Theodore."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Parkinson, Pansy."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Patil, Padma." The quieter twin walked up to the Hat.
"RAVENCLAW!" Harry's heart sank. Remus told him that the Hat Sorted him into Gryffindor because of his bravery in facing the Transformation. He had desperately hoped the twins would be Sorted into Gryffindor because he didn't want to be separated. At least he'd have Neville.
"Patil, Parvati."
"GRYFFINDOR!" Harry and the twins were surprised. Sure, the twins weren't the same person, but they'd assumed they'd be in the same House. Siblings usually are. Harry felt bad about the brief happiness he felt at his friends being split up. Well, not because they were split up, but because he'd have another friend in his House.
"Perks, Sally-Anne."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Potter, Harry."
"Another werewolf? I haven't had to sort one of you since '83. The only other werewolf I've had to Sort was your adoptive father. Like both of them, the bravery of having to face the Transformation means I cannot place you anywhere but GRYFFINDOR!"
Two ginger twins got up on the table and sung a short song about Gryffindor getting Harry Potter. Five minutes passed, before McGonagall was able to continue. "Rivers, Oliver."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Roper, Sophie."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Runcorn, Terrance."
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Smith, Sally."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Smith, Zacharias."
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Thomas, Dean."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Turpin, Lisa."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Weasley, Ronald." The ginger boy who'd scowled at Draco earlier walked up to the stool.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Weasley got up and smirked, shooting a snide glance at Draco. He walked to the Gryffindor table.
"Zabini, Blaise."
"SLYTHERIN!"
Dumbledore stood up. Harry say up more, waiting to hear the wizard who allowed him and his adoptive father to learn what most would deny him. "Welcome to Hogwarts. And to those of us returning, welcome back. I'm sure those of you third year and above will remember Professor Quirrell." He gestured to a nervous looking man who flinched when the students looked at him. He rose and bowed his turban-clothed head. "Professor Quirrell has returned from his sabbatical and, instead of retaking his Muggle Studies job, will become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. And now, let us feast!" A wide array of food appeared before everyone. Harry was pleased to note the rare meat in front of him. He moved an especially bloody steak onto his plate and dug in. He ignored the slightly queasy look on an older red headed boy with a badge. He spoke to Parvati and Neville throughout the feast. "I've got to be honest, I thought you and Padma would be in the same house."
Parvati sighed. "So did I. Don't get me wrong, I understand why she's in Ravenclaw, but I'd have thought we'd be in the same House. It's going to be hard being away from her for so long."
Neville decided to comfort his newfound friend. "Then we'll just h-have to spend as much time with her outside of class as possible." Parvati gave Neville a grateful smile.
"Thanks, Nev." The feast came to an end not long after this, with Harry not having much for dessert. Lycanthropy doesn't give you much of a sweet tooth.
Dumbledore stood up for the second time that night. "Now that we are all fed, I have some notices to say. Once again, I have been asked by Mr Filch to remind you of the many banned items. The full list can be found on his door. I believe it contains 325 items now. The Forbidden Forest is exactly that. Forbidden. I would ask you all to refrain from entering the forest." His eyes twinkled at a pair of redheaded twins boefore moving to Harry. He obviously expected Remus to pass on some knowledge about the Marauder's. Which he had, but Harry had no desire to go into the Forest or prank anyone. Except for Macnair and his goons. He had an instant dislike of them. "I would also like to impress upon you all that the third floor corridor is out of bounds to all who do not wish to die a most painful death."
Harry knew that Dumbledore was quite eccentric, but he also knew that Dumbledore wouldn't make a joke like that and would always give a reason not to go somewhere. And now Harry had a reason to use his Marauder heritage. He would be in the third floor corridor before the week was out.
Dumbledore spoke again. "Now then, let us sing the Hogwarts song." He waved his wand and words sprang into existence above his head. "Any tune you like, please." Harry decided to sing to the tune of Thin Lizzy's The Boys Are Back In Town. Neville didn't appear to have a specific tune that he sung to, whilst Parvati sang to a tune Harry vaguely remembered hearing at their house at some point. After the infamous junior Marauder's known as Fred and George Weasley had finished their slow funeral march, Dumbledore wiped a tear from his eye. "Ah, music. Such a great form of magic. Goodnight."